Carib Scope

分类： politics

  • Regering wil betalingsachterstanden aan SWM en EBS wegwerken

    Regering wil betalingsachterstanden aan SWM en EBS wegwerken

    During a weekly government press conference held on Monday, top Surinamese officials outlined urgent plans to resolve the mounting public debt crisis facing the country’s two key public utility providers, the Suriname Water Company (SWM) and Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS), while announcing a major restructuring of general utility subsidies to better support vulnerable populations.

    Vice President Gregory Rusland told reporters that the significant unpaid debt owed by the government to both utilities has severely restricted their ability to carry out critical infrastructure upgrades and operational investments. He confirmed that overdue payments from government ministries and public agencies to SWM alone have accumulated to approximately 100 million Surinamese dollars (SRD) over recent years.

    Rusland emphasized that ongoing public discussions about utility subsidies cannot be separated from the issue of the government’s own unpaid bills. “When the government states it provides subsidies to SWM or EBS, we must also ask whether the government is paying its own water and electricity bills,” Rusland said. He explained that a large share of current government outlays to the utilities goes toward clearing existing arrears, which cannot be accurately categorized as new subsidy spending.

    To address the backlog, the Council of Ministers has already approved a new rule requiring all government ministries to submit their water and electricity invoices for payment on a structured, timely basis going forward, a measure designed to stop further growth of the public debt to utilities. Clearing the existing backlog, Rusland noted, will immediately give both SWM and EBS the financial breathing room to complete the infrastructure investments that Suriname’s public services depend on.

    President Jennifer Simons added further details on plans for upgrading the country’s aging water distribution network, a priority as Suriname prepares for the upcoming forecast dry season. She confirmed that a previously paused infrastructure financing agreement with France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has now been reactivated, following the successful completion of most of Suriname’s national debt restructuring process. This AFD lending will fund much-needed upgrades to the national water network to strengthen resilience against drought.

    Alongside resolving the debt backlog, the Suriname government confirmed it will gradually phase out broad, across-the-board subsidies for water and electricity. Simons explained that the current universal subsidy model benefits even high-consumption households that do not need public support, while failing to direct sufficient resources to low-income and vulnerable groups that need it most.

    Under the government’s proposed new framework, consumers who believe they qualify for utility subsidies will need to submit formal applications to receive support. Eligibility will be verified after applications are received, and any consumer found to have improperly received subsidies will be required to repay the full amount plus interest. Simons said this targeted approach will reduce overall government spending on general subsidies, freeing up fiscal space to boost household incomes and fund required investments at public utility companies.

  • Mexico supports Dominican Republic in modernizing labor statistics

    Mexico supports Dominican Republic in modernizing labor statistics

    In a significant step forward for bilateral cooperation and public administration modernization, Dominican Minister of Labor Eddy Olivares has formally accepted a cutting-edge statistical monitoring initiative crafted by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). This project, built to reinforce the Dominican Ministry of Labor’s administrative data infrastructure, is designed to lay the groundwork for more robust, evidence-centered policy development across the country’s labor sector.

    The collaborative effort was launched under the existing Dominican Republic-Mexico Bilateral Cooperation Program, with a clear set of strategic goals. Beyond just upgrading the overall quality of national labor data, the initiative will help establish a more resilient monitoring and evaluation framework, alongside generating targeted strategic indicators. These tools will directly support both the design and ongoing impact assessment of national labor policies, filling critical gaps in the country’s current data ecosystem.

    Speaking following the official handover, Olivares emphasized that trustworthy, up-to-date statistical information is an irreplaceable foundation for understanding shifting labor market dynamics. He noted that solid data is required not just to track how effective public policies are on the ground, but also to craft well-informed solutions to persistent labor challenges, most notably the widespread issue of informal employment.

    Olivares added that the new project aligns perfectly with the Ministry of Labor’s ongoing push to modernize Dominican public management. By embedding greater efficiency, transparency, and data-driven decision-making into daily operations, the initiative will help the ministry better serve Dominican workers and employers alike.

    The project is the product of a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, with coordination and support from four key institutions: the Vice Ministry of International Cooperation under Dominican Republic’s Ministry of the Presidency, the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AMEXCID), the Dominican Ministry of Labor, and INEGI. This cross-border partnership model has enabled the sharing of technical expertise and best practices between the two Latin American nations, setting a precedent for future collaborative development projects.

  • Moisés Ruiz calls for stronger Dominican immigration controls after Ceuta crisis

    Moisés Ruiz calls for stronger Dominican immigration controls after Ceuta crisis

    In a televised analysis broadcast this week from Santo Domingo, prominent Dominican journalist Moisés Ruiz has drawn a sharp parallel between the 2021 mass migration crossing at Spain’s Ceuta border and growing pressures on the Dominican Republic’s frontier with Haiti, calling for immediate action to reinforce immigration enforcement across the country. The Ceuta crisis, which saw thousands of irregular migrants cross the border from Morocco into Spanish territory in a sudden, mass movement, should act as a urgent wake-up call for Dominican authorities, Ruiz argued during his appearance on *Enfrentados*, a current affairs program produced by El Nuevo Diario TV.

    Ruiz was careful to frame his comments not as opposition to migration as a whole, acknowledging the core drivers that push people to cross international borders. Many people leave their home nations out of a legitimate pursuit of improved economic prospects, safer living conditions, and better opportunities for their families, he noted. That said, he emphasized that no nation can maintain public order and economic stability without clear, effective systems in place to oversee the entry, registration, and legal residence of foreign visitors and new arrivals.

    The journalist zeroed in on longstanding concerns over the growing population of undocumented Haitian migrants working across multiple key sectors of the Dominican economy, warning that unregulated migration risks straining public services, undercutting local labor standards, and creating unaddressed security gaps. He reiterated that the scale of irregular movement across the Dominican-Haitian border has expanded dramatically in recent years, making the expansion of border security infrastructure and stricter enforcement of existing national immigration laws an urgent policy priority for the Dominican government. The lessons of Ceuta, he concluded, make clear that failing to shore up border controls proactively can lead to sudden, unmanageable humanitarian and security crises that are far harder to address after they unfold.

  • BPL Executive Chairman says outage rebates rarely please the public

    BPL Executive Chairman says outage rebates rarely please the public

    In the wake of a disruptive island-wide blackout that left homes and businesses across New Providence without power, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL)’s top leader has declined to commit to customer electricity bill rebates, arguing the policy rarely satisfies the public it is meant to help.

    Last Wednesday night’s widespread service disruption triggered immediate calls for relief for affected customers, prompting Prime Minister Philip Davis KC to announce last week he had formally requested BPL leadership to explore options for additional financial relief for residents and business owners grappling with repeated outages and soaring energy costs. But when pressed for details on potential rebates this week, BPL Executive Chairman Christina Alston stopped short of confirming any upcoming customer refunds, shedding light on the utility’s longstanding concerns about how such measures are received by the public.

    Alston laid out the utility’s perspective in comments to reporters yesterday, noting that no matter the size of the rebate offered—whether a $45 credit or a $100 reduction—some segment of consumers will inevitably leave disappointed. “We recognise that in the utility industry, we cannot please every customer at all times,” she explained. “It has become particularly easy to criticize BPL right now, as we navigate a challenging period marked by multiple infrastructure fires and frequent lightning-related outages that have disrupted service across the islands.”

    As of her press briefing, Alston confirmed she had not yet held discussions with Prime Minister Davis or the Minister of Energy to review the prime minister’s request, framing the final decision on rebates as a matter for political leadership to resolve. When asked directly whether she believed customers who had endured repeated service disruptions deserved a bill reduction, Alston called the question “difficult”, adding that global data from utility sectors shows consumer reaction to rebate programs is almost never universally positive.

    She emphasized that BPL operates as a publicly owned entity under the direction of the national government, meaning any rebate policy will move forward only after formal instruction from Davis and the energy ministry. “Once we receive those instructions, we know what the reaction will be: some consumers will say the relief is not enough, while others will be grateful for whatever support they get,” Alston added. Davis first confirmed the request for a rebate review last week, telling reporters he had directed BPL to assess the feasibility of concessions for customers reeling from repeated outages and high monthly energy bills, saying “they’ll see what they can do” to deliver support.

  • PM focuses on high electricity bills amidst plans to ease cost of living

    PM focuses on high electricity bills amidst plans to ease cost of living

    Facing growing public pressure over soaring household and business expenses across St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Godwin Friday laid out a comprehensive two-part strategy this Tuesday to address the nation’s rising cost of living crisis. In an address on NBC Radio, the leader of the eight-month-old New Democratic Party administration outlined that near-term interventions will prioritize curbing skyrocketing electricity costs, while long-term structural reforms will focus on building national economic resilience against volatile global external shocks. The current energy price surge, which has rippled across global oil markets, stems from ongoing conflict in the Gulf region – a challenge Friday confirmed the government is continuously evaluating to soften its impact on ordinary Vincentians. “The current surcharge on electricity is already unacceptably high, but it would be far worse without the proactive steps our administration has already put in place,” Friday stated, emphasizing that both the national government and state-owned electricity utility VINLEC must share the burden of elevated global fuel costs, rather than shifting the entire financial strain onto consumers. For Friday, electricity price inflation sits at the heart of the broader cost-of-living crisis, as every increase in utility costs flows directly through to household budgets and business operating expenses across every sector of the economy. “When VINLEC raises prices, the full surcharge gets passed directly to consumers and business owners. It touches every single person in this country,” he explained, adding that he has deep empathy for working families struggling to cover basic costs amid persistent energy price growth. The prime minister noted that his administration acted swiftly to counter price hikes earlier this year, rolling out targeted measures in May to offset rising diesel costs, the primary fuel used for the nation’s electricity generation. The three core immediate interventions include eliminating port fuel surcharges on all diesel imported by VINLEC, cutting or fully removing excise taxes on this imported fuel to lower the utility’s input costs, and pressuring VINLEC to absorb a portion of global fuel price increases instead of passing 100% of the cost to end users. According to Friday, VINLEC absorbed more than $730,000 in additional fuel costs in July alone, costs that would otherwise have appeared on consumers’ monthly electricity bills. Without these policy interventions, Friday warned, the per-kilowatt-hour fuel surcharge would exceed 90 cents – a level that would place unsustainable pressure on households, businesses and the overall national economy. Beyond pushing for shared cost absorption, Friday called on VINLEC to revise its customer disconnection policies to reflect the ongoing economic strain, urging the utility to extend longer grace periods for customers struggling to pay their bills. “VINLEC has to recognize that they cannot disconnect customers on the same rigid timelines they used before this crisis. We all need to show more flexibility and work together to get through this period,” he said. When discussing the long-term outlook, Friday acknowledged that temporary tax cuts and subsidies are short-term policy tools designed only to cushion the blow of an external price shock, not a permanent solution. Sustainable, long-term relief, he stressed, will require structural reform of the nation’s energy sector, rather than open-ended fiscal subsidies. The administration’s long-term energy strategy centers on reducing national vulnerability to global oil price volatility by investing in affordable renewable energy and building more sustainable domestic energy systems, with VINLEC tapped to lead the renewable transition, rather than treating clean energy as a competing force. “VINLEC has to be at the forefront of this shift so we can build a more stable, sustainable energy supply for the whole country,” Friday told radio listeners. While the government will continue to adjust fuel taxes to lower costs within the limits of constrained national public finances, Friday made clear that St. Vincent and the Grenadines cannot depend on permanent fiscal giveaways to keep electricity prices affordable over time. Beyond energy policy, Friday outlined a series of additional targeted measures to reduce everyday living costs, with a specific focus on low-income households and families with school-aged children. The administration is rolling out periodic VAT-free days to deliver direct, visible financial relief to consumers. The first VAT-free event, held in December 2025 in the capital Kingstown, drew what Friday called a “phenomenal” response, with unprecedented consumer demand. A second VAT-free day has been scheduled for August 28, this time tailored specifically to back-to-school shopping, unlike the broad, general public event held in December. After many businesses reported that they underestimated consumer demand for the December event, the government provided far more advance notice for the August promotion. Friday also called on local retailers to match the government’s fiscal sacrifice by passing additional savings onto consumers through their own price discounts. Friday framed the targeted VAT-free policy as part of a broader government philosophy focused on protecting the nation’s most vulnerable groups during the current cost squeeze. Among other support measures, the administration has raised monthly public assistance payments to EC$500 to support low-income and vulnerable residents, preventing them from being pushed into financial ruin by current economic conditions. The government has also eliminated all registration fees for secondary schools and the national Community College, and will cover all exam fees for the upcoming cohort of final-year secondary school students. “No student should have to fundraise to pay for eight or ten exit exams just to finish their secondary education. This is a core part of public education, and the state will take on this responsibility,” Friday said.

  • US proposes closure of embassy in Grenada

    US proposes closure of embassy in Grenada

    The United States Department of State has officially notified Congress of a proposed restructuring of America’s global diplomatic network, which would shutter the U.S. Embassy in Grenada alongside four other overseas diplomatic outposts, marking the third attempt to close the Grenada mission since it opened more than four decades ago.

    Alongside the Grenada embassy, the proposal targets the U.S. consulates in Winnipeg, Canada, and Nagoya, Japan, a consulate in Medan, Indonesia, and an embassy branch office in Douala, Cameroon, as part of a broader push to trim the country’s overseas diplomatic footprint. If approved, all operations at these facilities would be wound down following the completion of mandatory congressional consultation, a requirement under U.S. federal law for any overseas mission closure.

    Established in February 1984, just months after the 1983 U.S. military intervention in Grenada, the U.S. Embassy in St. George’s L’anse aux Épines district serves as the primary diplomatic hub for the entire tri-island nation of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. It provides on-the-ground consular support for U.S. citizens traveling, living, and working in the country, and manages all official bilateral relations between Washington and St. George’s. Currently, day-to-day leadership of the mission falls to resident Principal Officer Cindy Diouf, who oversees a team of U.S. Foreign Service staff and locally hired Grenadian employees. Overall oversight of the mission falls to Karin Sullivan, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires for the Eastern Caribbean, who is based at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the proposed restructuring as a efficiency-driven adjustment, following a series of staffing and budget cuts to the State Department’s domestic operations over the past 12 months. “We are focused on ensuring that our diplomatic footprint is efficient, effective, and delivers results for the American people, while adhering strictly to statutory congressional notification procedures,” a department spokesperson said in an official statement responding to media questions about the plan. The department has not yet released public details on how many total positions across all proposed closures would be eliminated, or what cost savings the restructuring is projected to generate.

    This latest proposal is not the first time Washington has targeted the Grenada embassy for closure. A decade after the mission opened, in May 1994, the Bill Clinton administration put forward a similar plan as part of post-Cold War cost-cutting efforts. That proposal was ultimately scrapped after fierce pushback from Congress, led by the Congressional Black Caucus and Republican lawmakers, who argued that closing the mission would disrespect the U.S. military personnel who served and died in the 1983 intervention. A second attempt emerged just over a year ago, in April 2025, when the embassy was included on a leaked list of nearly 30 overseas missions under review for potential closure.

    Local and regional stakeholders have already raised significant concerns about the potential impact of shuttering the Grenada mission, particularly for the island’s largest higher education institution, St. George’s University. The university hosts more than 6,000 American students across its medical and veterinary programs, alongside hundreds of U.S.-based faculty and administrative staff, making it one of the largest concentrations of U.S. citizens in the Southern Caribbean. For this community, the on-island embassy provides critical, time-sensitive services, from emergency passport replacements and notary work to consular protection during crises and support for U.S. absentee voting. If the embassy closes, all of these services would need to be routed through the regional hub in Barbados, creating longer wait times and additional travel costs for users. Local businesses tied to U.S. trade, investment, and tourism would also face increased administrative barriers, stakeholders warn.

    Under current U.S. law, the State Department cannot move forward with any mission closure until it completes formal consultations with the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As the review process gets underway, no immediate changes to embassy operations or consular services have been announced, and the mission remains open to serve the public as of this reporting.

  • High Court rules president acted unconstitutionally in Opposition Leader appointment dispute

    High Court rules president acted unconstitutionally in Opposition Leader appointment dispute

    In a historic judgment that reaffirms constitutional guardrails for democratic governance in the Commonwealth of Dominica, former opposition leader Lennox Linton has won a high-profile constitutional challenge against the country’s Attorney General. The High Court has ruled that the Dominican President violated constitutional principles by failing to account for opposition senators’ support when appointing a new Leader of the Opposition.

    The dispute stretches back to June 20, 2024, when Jesma Paul-Victor stepped down from the position of Leader of the Opposition. For 18 months following her resignation, the President refused to recognize the backing that four opposition senators extended to Linton for the vacant post, triggering the legal battle. In her official ruling, Justice Zainab Jawara-Alami delivered a decisive rebuke of the executive branch’s interpretation of constitutional authority.

    During proceedings, legal representatives for the Attorney General advanced two core arguments. First, they claimed that appointed senators hold no constitutional role in shaping the Leader of the Opposition appointment process, and the President was under no obligation to consider their preferences. Second, they maintained that courts should only intervene in presidential appointments if a decision is proven irrational or unreasonable, arguing the President was within her rights to decline making an appointment for an extended period. The Attorney General also challenged Linton’s legal standing to bring the case, dismissing his action as “meddlesome interloping” that lacked legitimate, specific public interest.

    After the case was launched, Paul-Victor was ultimately appointed to the post in January 2026, prompting the Attorney General to request the court dismiss the suit as a now-moot academic issue. Justice Jawara-Alami rejected this motion, emphasizing that the underlying constitutional questions raised were of profound public importance and required formal resolution.

    In her ruling, Justice Jawara-Alami struck down every key argument put forward by the Attorney General. She confirmed that once appointed, senators are full voting members of the House of Assembly, entitled to the same constitutional rights and responsibilities as elected representatives, unless the constitution explicitly states otherwise. This means the four opposition senators’ support for Linton was constitutionally relevant and should have been factored into the President’s decision. The judge also clarified that when a candidate meets all requirements laid out in Section 66(2) of the Dominican constitution, appointing a Leader of the Opposition is a mandatory duty for the President, not a discretionary power. Finally, the court upheld Linton’s standing to bring the public interest challenge, noting that constitutional law permits individuals to pursue relief on behalf of the public good.

    Central to the court’s reasoning was the fundamental role of the Leader of the Opposition in Dominica’s democratic system. “The office of leader of the opposition is an essential part of the constitutional and democratic framework of the country and serves an important role in ensuring accountability within a democracy,” the court wrote in its official judgment.

    Responding to the ruling, Linton framed the outcome as a victory far beyond his individual legal claim. “This victory belongs to every Dominican who believes that public power must be exercised lawfully; that the Opposition has an indispensable role in our democracy; and that the Constitution must remain superior to political convenience, executive preference and partisan maneuvering,” he said. “Today, the Constitution won. Democracy won. Accountability won.”

    Linton’s legal team was led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, alongside Jared Jagroo and Vishaal Siewsaran from Trinidad-based Freedom Law Chambers, instructed by local Dominican attorney Ronald Charles. The Attorney General was represented by Anthony Astaphan SC, Jason Lawrence, Tameka Burton and Levi Peter. The full judgment is publicly available under case number DOMHCV2025-0131.

  • Nicholas, Japanese State Minister Discuss Technology and Bilateral Cooperation

    Nicholas, Japanese State Minister Discuss Technology and Bilateral Cooperation

    High-level diplomatic talks between the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda and Japan have closed with a shared pledge to expand bilateral cooperation, centered on leveraging Japanese technological innovation and private sector knowledge to drive mutual progress. The meeting, held Monday in Japan, brought together Melford Nicholas, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Information, Communication Technologies, Utilities and Energy, and Iwao Horii, Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, for roughly 50 minutes of focused discussion.

    Opening the talks, Horii extended a formal welcome to Nicholas, noting that bilateral ties have gained steady momentum since the Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference held two years prior, which opened new doors for increased high-level exchanges between the two sides. Against this backdrop, Horii emphasized Japan’s clear intention to build on this momentum and forge a deeper, more interconnected relationship with Antigua and Barbuda.

    In response, Nicholas expressed gratitude for the long-standing support Japan has extended to Antigua and Barbuda across multiple critical sectors, highlighting past assistance in water resource management and disaster risk reduction — two areas of vital importance for the small island nation that faces regular climate-related challenges.

    Beyond bilateral collaboration, the two ministers also exchanged views on evolving regional geopolitical and socioeconomic developments, as well as opportunities for aligned cooperation in multilateral international forums. By the end of the meeting, both parties reached a consensus to continue advancing closer working ties, building on Japan’s strengths in advanced technology, specialized industry expertise, and private sector capacity to deliver shared benefits for both countries.

  • Ghana’s President Mahama, UWI Vice Chancellor Beckles to Hold High-Level Reparations Dialogue

    Ghana’s President Mahama, UWI Vice Chancellor Beckles to Hold High-Level Reparations Dialogue

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — July 31, 2026 — The University of the West Indies (The UWI), partnering with the Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, is set to host a historic high-level conversation on reparatory justice during an official visit by Ghana President John Dramani Mahama to the Caribbean island nation.

    The Special High-Level Reparation Dialogue, scheduled for Monday, August 3 at 4:30 p.m. Jamaica local time (5:30 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time for the Eastern Caribbean), will be held in the Eon Nigel Harris Council Room at The UWI’s Regional Headquarters in Jamaica. To expand access for regional and global audiences, the entire conversation will be streamed live via UWI tv across multiple platforms.

    This one-on-one dialogue between President Mahama and The UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, is rooted in the Ghanaian leader’s state visit to Jamaica, extended at the invitation of the Jamaican government. The event carries both timely relevance and deep symbolic weight, coming as the global movement for reparatory justice gains unprecedented momentum. It also reinforces The UWI’s long-standing position as the Caribbean’s leading intellectual hub and a key convener of critical discourse that shapes both regional policy and global advocacy efforts.

    Unlike many general discussions on the topic, the exchange will directly connect historical documentation of transatlantic chattel slavery to modern policy frameworks. Attendees and viewers will explore the evolving global reparations agenda, map out legal and moral responsibilities of individual states, and examine the unique role academic and public institutions can play in advancing global equity and restorative justice.

    The event’s full programme opens with introductory remarks from Professor Sonjah Stanley Niaah, Director of The UWI’s Centre for Reparation Research. Following the opening, President Mahama and Vice-Chancellor Beckles will deliver their prepared remarks before moving into the structured dialogue. A live question-and-answer session with in-person audience members will follow the core conversation, before a representative from Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport delivers closing remarks that highlight the dialogue’s importance for both Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region.

    Both working journalists and members of the general public are invited to access the free live stream through multiple channels, including UWI tv’s official website at www.uwitv.global, the platform’s social media accounts, and UWI tv’s dedicated Flow television channels across the Caribbean.

  • Security for communities

    Security for communities

    As the country’s existing state of emergency approaches its scheduled September 17 end, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago has announced a major new expansion of the government’s national anti-crime campaign: the rollout of 30 joint army-police posts across high-traffic intersections, major highways and key community hubs over the next four months.

    This new security initiative marks the administration’s next step in crime mitigation, coming after two successive states of emergency implemented since the United National Congress (UNC) government assumed office in May 2025. In an official statement shared to her Facebook platform, the Prime Minister framed the joint posts as a core addition to the government’s updated national security strategy, designed to boost the visible presence of law enforcement and reclaim public spaces that have fallen under the control of criminal groups.

    Persad-Bissessar emphasized that the new deployment directly answers years of repeated calls from local residents for increased security coverage across their neighborhoods. The initiative, she noted, embodies the current government’s pledge to tackle rising crime through deeper integrated collaboration between the nation’s different protective service branches.

    “I am pleased to inform citizens that in the upcoming four months 30 joint army-police posts will be placed in communities across the country. Many communities have for years requested increased security presence and the protective services and Government is moving aggressively to provide such,” the Prime Minister stated. She added that the permanent posts will not only deter criminal activity but also restore a sense of safety for residents, enabling communities to once again make full use of public areas that have been abandoned due to persistent violence and criminal activity.

    Twenty-four locations for the first phase of the program have already been finalized, with an additional six sites set to be confirmed in the coming weeks. To ensure the initiative delivers long-term results, Persad-Bissessar has issued a public call for civil society organizations and private sector groups to partner with law enforcement. “I encourage NGOs, business chambers, community groups and councils to adopt and support these posts and work with the security services,” she said.

    The Prime Minister also used the announcement to reaffirm the government’s full confidence in the nation’s top security leadership. She extended formal gratitude to Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro, SSA Director Alicia Henry, Chief of Defence Staff Commodore Don Polo, Prison Superintendent Elvin Scanterbury, and all rank-and-file officers for their ongoing work to curb criminal activity across the country. “On behalf of all law-abiding citizens I again express sincere gratitude to … all their colleagues and reaffirm our confidence in them, and their shared vision of ending the grip of crime on our nation,” she said.

    Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander expanded on the details of the initiative in an interview with the Express, confirming that the program will be delivered via a coordinated partnership between his ministry, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. Alexander described the joint posts as a key component of the government’s holistic, cross-agency approach to dismantling criminal networks in high-risk areas.

    Unlike intermittent mobile patrols, Alexander explained that uniformed officers will staff permanent, fixed posts at these strategic locations to enable continuous monitoring of key zones. “This is part of our anti-crime initiatives which is holistic. We have put together this particular action to tackle crime and criminality in particular areas. One of the things we try to do is monitor; and I said this when I was a police officer—we control the streets—we are going to control the state of crime,” he said.

    The fixed deployment will allow joint patrol teams to respond faster to emergency calls and prevent fleeing offenders from escaping through major transit routes. “So if someone steals a car and the information comes, he must not be able to get away. Persons committing offences must not get away. When communities call, we listen; and coming from a law enforcement background, there are things I could not have done as a police officer, but now this role gives me the advantage to assist the Commissioner of Police and police officers in implementing their anti-crime strategies effectively,” Alexander added.

    Beyond the new joint posts, the government is moving forward with widespread manpower expansion across all public security branches. Alexander confirmed that 233 new police officers will complete training and deploy by early September, with a second cohort of recruits already in training. Active recruitment drives are also underway for the Prison Service, Defence Force and Fire Service to boost overall staffing.

    As additional personnel come on board, Alexander announced that the government will finally implement the long-unenforced hard labour provision for convicted prisoners. Under the new policy, inmate labor will be leveraged to carry out community cleanup projects across the country. “We have over 400 or more free labour in the prisons; it’s about time we implement it,” he said.